Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Revised Campaign House Rules

Mission creep seems to be on my lips a
good deal these days when talking about how much of what I expected I
would be doing at various points in the campaign has seemed to become things fairly different from what the elevator pitch was at the get go.

Tone and the nature of the sandbox have
evolved into new phases quite obviously (I hesitate to use a
high-falutin', Kuhnian word like paradigm) and taking stock this week
realized that the actual at-the-table house rules and play quirks
really are quite different from what I have in print on the blog and
in the Compendium. So for players (old and new) and the curious here
is what's in use:

New or Codified Rules

The Eternal Scumbag. The Weird
doesn't always produce the terrifying or inimical, it's infection can
extend strange life-hopping properties to those that spend inordinate
amounts of time in its presence. If a PC dies the player can elect to
roll up a new character with half the experience points of the
deceased character. All meta-knowledge is assumed to transfer to the
new character and there is a certain “look in the eyes” that hops
with the soul.

The New Dude. Players starting
new PCs can choose two routes for chargen: 1. use the alternate
background generator in the Hill Cantons Compendium, or 2. roll 4d6
drop the lowest in order for attributes and start with the normal die
roll for starting cash. Starting spells are your INT minimum per
permitted spell level. Maximum hit points for your starting hit die.

Playable Classes. This being a
Humancentric campaign, humans can elect to be any class from the
LL/AEC rulebook (using the lower B/X like hit dice). They can also
play any ridiculous and silly class from the Compendium or Live or
Wild or Die, which to-date is the Mountebank, Newhonian White Wizard,
Chaos Monk, Amazon, or Pantless Barbarian. Demihumans are consigned
to the race-class ghetto of the Compendium: Robodwarf Feral Dwarf,
Half-Ogre and Black Hobbit.

Clerics and Priests

Only followers of the Sun Lord (or
those of Father Jack's Blood Jesus church) are allowed to play
Clerics. Most other classes however can elect to be priests of other
divine powers (see Live Weird or Die for specifics).

Coming Back from the Dead. The
party can elect to have a dead character raised by the Patriarch of
Kezmarok (sanity permitting) for 5000 gold suns or reincarnated
(rolls on the Big Dumb HC Reincarnation Table) by the Archdruid of
Svat the Four Faced, Vilem Nelsin for 3000 suns. Special favors may
be substituted for a partial or full remittance of payment if the NPC
has need.

The Rule of Mulmak. It takes
real grit and a heap of luck to survive as a Hill Cantons hireling,
so one that passes through that forge is assumed to take on some of
the heroic properties of the PCs. Any henchperson who is of the third
level or higher is entitled to a roll on the Death and Dismemberment table if they reach 0 hit points.

Conspicuous Consumption. Living
high on the hog is a cherished tradition among Eternal Scumbags. Gold
for non-adventure-useful luxury items like fashionable clothing,
unfortified real estate, foodstuffs, recreational drugs,
empty titles of nobility, etc can be burned for exp at the rate of .5
exp per 1 gold sun spent. A list of consumables (which assume you
have access to a city such as Kezmarok or Marlank) can be found in
Live Weird or Die or along the above links.

Magic Backpack. Anything
you need in your backpack is somehow on top when you need it. Bam its
a rule, wizard did it.

Non-Stupid Encumbrance. Enc
rules are handwaved if the PC is carrying the “logically normal”
range of goods. Bulky treasures (remember gold suns are 1/10th
the weight of the D&D gp) or large items will encumber you as per
my judgment. Dur.

Villain Cameos. From time to
time, people outside the main party will continue to play the parts
of various NPC villains (Kezmarok's surviving Autarch for instance).
The GM will strive to reduce meta-knowledge and will cap the amount
of carnage if it strays into the Non-Fun sphere of thing.

Rules from the HC Compendium No
Longer in Use

Exp for
training or gear. We use the
double-dipping rules from above now.

The Alternate
Charisma rules. Nope.

Loyal
Followers and the Hireling wage scale. Hireling
rates are at the prevailing Guild-set wage.